1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of portable containers, and, more specifically, to a portable container for holding canning jars in a number of different configurations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior art includes stackable jars (U.S. Pat. No. 2,738,891), nestable trays (U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,748), and a method for locking a first stack of trays onto a second stack of trays involving protruberances on the bottom floor surfaces of each tray (U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,601). U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,862 describes a bottle holder and bottle holding system in which a pair of identical thermoformed bottle holders support the bases and to portions of an array of glass bottles. U.S. Pat. No. 7,721,891 provides a system of nested and stacked containers that are not specifically designed to hold jars.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,743,939 discloses a nestable beverage case in which the lower wall section is inset relative to the upper wall section so that one case can nest into another up to about one-half its height. U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2009/0108002-provides a stackable tray assembly in which beverage multipacks or individual bottles may be inserted in between individual trays. U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2009/0178946 describes a container assembly for the storage and transport of goods in which a second portion is pivotally connected to a first portion. Both the first and second portions have an outer surface with a stacking pattern on it that allows one container assembly to be stacked on top of another.
There is no product on the market today that holds up to six or twelve (depending on the embodiment) canning jars, is portable and stackable in the number of different configurations described herein, and that accommodates both standard and wide-mouth canning jars. None of the inventions mentioned above is specifically designed to accommodate both standard and wide-mouth canning jars, to “locate” each individual jar within the assembly, to “locate” tops of jars to bottom of trays, and to allow each tray to serve either as a cover or as a base. In short, the trays of the present invention are designed to locate, stack, snap and nest. The structural features of the present invention are discussed more fully below in connection with the figures.